Requiem of the Drachenkaiser
by Warlord Fellhammer
Summary: Humanity has turned their backs on the soul bond that they share with the dragons, and now pay highly skilled hunters, or slayers, to track down the few remaining dragons, and exterminate them. Will this be the end for the Dragons? Or will this troubled time give rise to the next Drachenkaiser? Rated "M" for Mataras (Heavy violence at times)
1. Teaser

**-Requiem of the Drachenkaiser-**

Hail, travelers. Come. Gather around the fire. Listen close to the words I speak. For this may be the first, or the last, time you hear them... Many a moon ago, on a night much like this, not far from this very tavern, an epic quest was started. A quest, that was heard of only in whispers, told by dying firelight. Whispers, that soon turned into an epic tale, growing with every deed heard of. An epic, that turned into legend. And now a legend, that slowly turns to myth. This, is the Requiem of the Drachenkaiser.


	2. Scroll the First

**-Requiem of the Drachenkaiser-**

 **Disclaimer: I would like to point out that the system of dragons is borrowed from an amazing book called "Dragon Roar" which is the first released book of a series named "The Omega Chronicles" by Joseph Kram (aka Mataras on here. Should go check out his stuff. As well as the book, it's awesome.) I use this system with his permission, and I own it in no way, shape, or form, as it is owned by Joseph Kram/Mataras. However, with that said, I do own my OC/s, this fanfic, and a copy of that awesome book. And with that, I proudly present (what I think is) the first Fanfiction based off of the Omega chronicles! (And no, I will not be revealing any spoilers that I may, or may not, have. (I like not getting shot by authors, thank you very much!))**

 **-Requiem of the Drachenkaiser-**

Hail, travelers. Come. Gather around the fire. Listen close to the words I speak. For this may be the first, or the last, time you hear them... Many a moon ago, on a night much like this, not far from this very tavern, an epic quest was started. A quest, that was heard of only in whispers, told by dying firelight. Whispers, that soon turned into an epic tale, growing with every deed heard of. An epic, that turned into legend. And now a legend, that slowly turns to myth. This, is the Requiem of the Drachenkaiser.

 ** _Scroll the First: A Legend, Begun!_**

'Twas a dark, God-forsaken night. A mighty wind, shrieking between the icy fingers of frost-laden trees, sounding much like the mournful cry of a banshee, threw great banks of furious black clouds across a sky devoid of any light. A lone figure, wrapped in a cloak that would make the deepest, darkest shade of grey blush in shame, trudged silently down a long abandoned game trail in the northern reaches of Sigmarsunder, a small fief located in the far, far north. Not much was in the fief save a few small, but fairly prosperous, mines, three lakes, a handful of small towns that supported the mines, and a modestly sized fortress-cathedral simply known as, "The Lords' Bastion." The people, a collection of the roughest men and women civilization had ever produced on the continent. Thieves, murderers, deserters, heretics and the like. All brought together by the simple task of trying to survive after years of dodging the law. Nobody ever bothered them out there in the far north, save a few traders and the occasional brain dead bounty hunter, and they didn't venture south, save for a lone messenger to the king of the year's events and revenues. As the lone figure slowly made his way along the barely visible trail, his heavy unadorned steel boots making muffled thuds upon the loose earth as he made his way higher and higher into the mountains, he spotted what looked like a small cave, not much more than a jagged hole in the mountainside a few square feet in diameter. As he walked closer, he slowly picked out more detail about it. It was no natural cave, if the deep gashes around the entrance had anything to say about it, as well as being twice the size than when he first spotted it, as he stood right in front of it. "Clearly designed by one of those damned logic worms..." He rumbled, his voice sounding like a small rock slide as he finally spoke, disturbing the shrieking wind with the power contained in his voice. Ducking into the cave, the rune tattooed next to his left eye, a deep, dark slate grey with flecks the color of fresh blood, started glowing a deep purple, signifying that the enhanced vision he had stolen from an Epsilon-Class Vision Dragon, his first kill many years before, was active. With him now being able to see in the dark, he made his way to the back of the cave and entered a tunnel that appeared as dark and hopeless as his heart. Soon reaching the end of the fairly short tunnel, he was amazed that no other slayers had come across this nest before.

 **-Requiem of the Drachenkaiser-**

Like a howling messenger of Thor's wrath, the storm broke over the mountain range as he stepped into the nest of the leviathan. "Come out and be recognized dragon, the time has come for your existence to be ended!" He shouted, shedding his cloak and revealing his form for all to see. Hair the color of a polished steel blade, graced with streaks the color of dried gore fanned out over massive shoulders encased in heavy plated steel pauldrons, before it traveled halfway down his back. His hair framed a heavily tanned face that looked like it had been hewn from solid granite, and continued into an elaborately braided beard of the same colors, which reached down to brush against the bottom of a thick steel breastplate, with only the rune "Uruz" or "Power" engraved where the heraldic symbol would be. Sensing something entering the cave, but seeing nothing, he knew that he had finally found his quarry.

"Kage Drakesong... An ironic name... You slaughter my kin without reason or mercy, yet you are named for us... Why is this?" Came a very refined feminine voice from everywhere, and nowhere, confirming his suspicions that his opponent was a lone Epsilon-Class Stealth dragon. "I assume you are here to slay me, yes?"

"Your powers of deduction amaze me, ancient one." The now named Kage muttered sarcastically, as he pulled a heavy war scythe from its mount on his back. It was a masterpiece, it's massive 4 1/2 foot long blade made out of the purest steel, and engraved with over three dozen runes. Its' shaft, a beautiful slightly s-curved six foot long polished mahogany stave. Rings of black steel coiled around key parts of the shaft, giving it more strength and durability. Two, one foot long portions of the handle were wrapped in thick, rough, masterfully cured dragon hide. "How do you know of me, dragon?"

"When one is one hundred and thirty seven years old, you tend to hear a thing or two here and there. Now, you are here to slay me, and I am honor and duty bound to protect my nest. Shall we?" Saying this, the dragon briefly appeared, bowing towards Kage, and proclaimed itself as Abenddämmerung, or Dusk. A fitting name, as her scales were no longer vibrant and lively, like most epsilon scales are. No longer were they the pleasant shade of new leaves, they were a darker, almost ashen, shade of green; the shade of green that one sees in the leaves as the last light fades from the skies. Even from that brief glimpse of Abenddämmerung, Kage knew that this would be a challenging fight, as well as rewarding and saddening if he won.

As Abenddämmerung vanished, Kage readied his scythe and imagined superhuman strength flowing throughout his body, causing the rune on his breastplate to start glowing, revealing it to be more than a simple decoration.

"So, this is the famed Kaiser Blade? It is more impressive in person than my cousins told me. I shall have to add it to my collection, after we are done here."

"This be the Kaiser Blade, aye. Though ye are wrong that you will add it to your collection, as I shall be leaving here with one of your scales, and a new rune as a trophy, venerable one." And with that, the two started the duel that would change Kage's life forever.

As the two titans started circling around the cave, one representing raw power and death, the other, the un-seeable, intangible, beauty of life and grace given form. Pausing in his careful shuffling footwork on the dusty, packed earth that was the floor, he slowly reached for the black and silver patch that covered his right eye. Shaking his head quickly, he lowered his hand before suddenly diving forward and rolling, the wall he had been standing inches from exploding into a shower of rubble and dust as something impacted it.

"You move unnaturally quickly, Song of the Drake, have you taken the life of one of my nimble cousins?"

Springing out of his roll and onto his feet, Kage quickly brought his scythe into a guard position and tried to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. "No, great beast; that was just my natural ability." Suddenly spinning in place and sweeping the Kaiser Blade low he was rewarded with… Nothing...

"You were a bit too close for my taste with that one, Kage. I may just have to get serious for you. How did you know where I was, if you would not mind explaining?"

"As you moved forward to attack, you knocked aside a small rock, which skidded into my sight. A less adept person would never have noticed it, but, even without my rune of vision, I can notice even the smallest of things." Reaching into a pouch on his belt, he pulled out a small brown package. "However, even a blind man could see this." And with that, he threw the package against the ceiling, causing it to explode and the contents, a very fine white powder, to spread out over the cave. Everything was white, the ceiling, the floor, his beard, but most importantly, his enemy.

"Flour. Very resourceful, young one. That is a use for it that I have not seen in many moons." Abenddämmerung admitted before charging Kage, as her hit-and-run tactics had now been rendered useless.

As Abenddämmerung charged across the cave, Kage readied his scythe. The moment had come. He had finally found his slayer. A dragon. That is how his tale would end. That is always how it would have ended. Either in years past, or in years to come, it would end with a dragon. Bellowing his war-cry, passed down generation after generation through the gene-seed of the father, Kage charged the mass of scale and teeth barreling towards him, scythe beginning its swing once more. Like an avalanche and a rock slide, the two met in the center of the cavern, blow after blow being blocked, dodged, countered, and strung together like a dance of death. When the two parted for a moment, they were both shedding small rivers of blood, drops mingling with each other to form puddles, slickening the ground beneath and around them. Eyeing each other warily, the two didn't notice their blood mixing on the ground, hissing slightly as they mixed and faintly glowed, releasing a faint silver and gold mist. As they caught their breath and charged each other again, Kage slipped, and turned it into a roll, which carried him through one of the deeper pools of blood, coating his back and arms in their combined gore. Gore, which seeped into his bloodstream through the multitude of wounds adorning his arms. Soon, Kage noticed that it felt almost like his arms were on fire. This was not the effect of ordinary battle fatigue on him, for they had only been fighting for not more than ten minutes, and he had more than enough stamina to fight for this long. As the fight dragged on longer and longer though, he felt the fire spread throughout his torso and legs. When it finally circulated into his heart however, it no longer felt like a fire, it felt like someone had unleashed hellfire directly upon his soul. Scorching, searing heat suddenly emanated from his body, driving his enemy back as they fought, Kage grimacing in pain with a rictus grin taking place of his normally inexpressive face. Slowly, but surely, the pain and heat started dissipating, going only God knows where, allowing Kage to once more regain the upper hand in the ever flowing battle.

 **-Requiem of the Drachenkaiser-**

One mistake. One mistake is all that it would take to end the battle for either of them, so evenly matched were they. As Kage and Abenddämmerung clashed together in a shower of sparks and powdered scale, one of the dragon's legs gave out from the constant abuse and heavy damage it had taken, sending Abenddämmerung crashing to the floor as Kage circled around her, scythe poised and ready to strike the killing blow.

Throwing all imagery of being poised and refined to the winds, Abenddämmerung started pleading for her life. "Stop! I am the last stealth dragon! If I go, my type is almost guaranteed to never appear again!"

"I've heard that one, try another." Kage chuckled darkly as he raised his scythe higher.

"I can give you my collection of weapons?"

"I'd get that anyway if I kill you." He deadpanned.

"I can give you the location of my cousins' lairs?" Abenddämmerung growled, grasping for anything to save her life.

"The words of a traitor hold no worth to me; the words of a traitor to their own kind, even less. Die now dragon, and journey to the realm beyond."

And with that, final statement, there was a flash of silver, a sickening crunch, and a fine mist of gore spreading through the air.

Kneeling next to the decapitated body of Abenddämmerung Kage spoke after several minutes of silence. "I honor your life, and your death ancient one, your last moments may not have done you justice, but then again, 'tis rare that anyone's do. To this tomb of remembrance, I commit your body, and may your heartlight guide your soul safely across the void."

 **-Requiem of the Drachenkaiser-**

After wrapping his wounds and chasing the lingering potential rust spots known as blood off of the Kaiser Blade, Kage crouched down next to the slowly cooling body of Abenddämmerung and meticulously levered off one of the few undamaged scales. Standing, he looked around wondering where this 'collection' of weapons was. 'Any tunnel but the one I came through should do, I guess.' Came the idle thought as he ran through a childhood rhyme to pick one of the five tunnels leaving the main cavern. "This one looks promising," came the eventual chuckle as he settled on one of the middle three tunnels.

Trudging slowly and carefully down the pitch black tunnel, his visible eye still being affected by the rune next to it he idly wondered what the mysterious fire he had felt in his blood was. After a few minutes of walking, he finally made it to the end, and almost tripped over his own feet as he saw what was hidden within.

Naught but a few feet in front of him, almost within reach, was the edge of a pit. Only a shallow one to be sure, but a pit was the only way to describe it. Nearly twenty feet in diameter, and about five feet deep, its sides bore deep gashes, proclaiming for all to see that it had been put there by many an hour of work by the previous occupant. Scattered around the rim in an organized fashion were weapons of many a type. Swords, bows, axes, hammers, staves, and more all were stacked in piles according to their type, or dropped on the ground, as if left there there by an unlucky adventurer. In an alcove cut into the wall opposite the entrance Kage stood in were bones. Bones of humans, bones of animals, even bones of dragons. The human and dragon bones were neatly arrayed, as if the departed would had simply died there sleeping peacefully, if not for that some were broken. The animal bones, piled in a jumbled heap in a back corner.

What drew his attention more than even the weapons, were the colorful rocks at the center of the pit, safely tucked inside a small dip. Curiosity drawing him, but not overwhelming him, he made his way closer and closer to the rocks. When he was a few feet away, however, he saw that they were not rocks, but eggs. Dragon eggs. Narrowing his eyes, he approached closer and closer. When he was a few feet away, he pulled a small spiked hammer from a loop on his belt and raised it, preparing to smash them in, thereby ending what he saw as a future threat. Then, he noticed two things. First, that two were rocking, one violently, one gently. The second, that not only were they rocking, they were starting to crack. Realizing that they were hatching, he stopped, awed that he would be the first known person in nearly two hundred years to witness the birthing of a dragon. Crouching down, he waited.

Almost three quarters of an hour later, the first pieces of shell started breaking off of the violently rocking egg, with the gently rocking egg following suit shortly after. After a brief wait, they both stopped. Nearly twenty minutes later, a leg colored like the ashes of a burnt out fire burst from the similarly colored egg in a small explosion of shattered shell. With a sturdy black scaled head with a light metallic sheen popping out of the other egg with a piece of shell perched on it following soon after. Moving slowly, Kage inched towards them, awestruck, and engraving the memory into the halls of his mind. In his awe, he didn't realize how close to the edge of the depression he was, and tripped, attempting to catch himself, his hands landed near the eggs. Imagine his confusion and slight pain when he saw two tiny tails erupt from the eggs and stab into the backs of his hands.

Suddenly, his mind was flooded with a torrent of half seen memories, forgotten legends, and unfulfilled prophesy as the tails retracted into the eggs, which burst apart shortly after. Feeling something unlock in his mind, Kage's black, forsaken heart seemed to weaken for a moment, before invisible steel walls sprang up around it, attempting to block anything from changing it. But it was in vain, for there was already something hiding deep within it. A flicker. A spark of regret, now being fanned into an ember by the winds of change fighting a guerilla war inside the fortress of his soul. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, the heat from the fight before returned. But, it was not hellfire to his soul this time, it was a calming, soothing flame. A flame that started to heal the foundering soul that resided within the being known as Kage.

 _'I am Kharn,'_ came a strong, harmonious voice, sounding almost like the ring of a hammer striking steel, from inside his head. _'Do you require aid, my brother? You seem to be in quite the state.'_

Quickly springing to his feet and momentarily forgetting the hatchlings at his feet, Kage looked around wildly before roaring, "Show yourself trickster! Remove yourself from my head, stop hiding, and face me like a true warrior!"

 _'Look down, brother. I am at your feet.'_ Came the voice again, still resounding inside his skull.

Looking down, Kage saw the unhatched eggs, pieces of the two hatched eggs, and two tiny dragon hatchlings.

"Is it one of you speaking through my skull?" Asked a slightly dumbfounded Kage.

 _'Indeed, brother. I am Kharn, and I am a Gamma-Class Metal Dragon, bonded to you.'_ Came the voice, now sounding like it was trying to stifle a laugh.

 _'And I, lonely one, am Khaine, a Delta-Class Phantom Dragon, I am to be your second partner in battle and peace until I die.'_ Came a second voice, sounding like the whispers of the midnight spirits dancing amongst the trees of an ancient forest. _'What is it that drives you, battlebrother?'_

With no hesitation, Kage uttered a response from the very depths of his soul, "My anger drives me, my rage that there are those who betray people who call them brother, who call them sister, family, friend. My rage fuels my anger. And my anger fuels my rage."

 _'Your answer is satisfactory, brother, my life is yours until the day I die.'_

"So, you both… Have… Bonded to me? What does this mean?

 _'What it means, bold one, is that our very souls are connected. We will follow you unto death, be it ours, or yours.'_

With a fire burning in his eyes, Kage realized that he had been lied to his entire life. Dragons were not evil. They were the purest form of loyalty given form. A form of loyalty more honest and pure than a blood oath. A new quest formed in his soul, eradicating his previous one of hunting down dragons until one killed him. This new quest, was to restore dragons to their rightful place. A place of companionship, a place of honor. A station, of loyalty and guardianship.

 _'We will need training, brother, if we are to fulfill this desire of yours. We must find the lost enclaves. And then we must find more keepers like yourself if we are to ever be restored._

"I have knowledge upon the location of one of your frigid cousins. He may have information on where one of the enclaves is located."

Retrieving his pack, Kage carefully picked up the dozen or so unhatched eggs, and secured them gently within. Looking around at the weapons laying on the ground, he stopped in thought… "As a keeper, do I not get my own piece of land?"

 _'I don't see why not, brother. You will certainly have the power to keep it as your own.'_ Came the voice of Khaine, as Kage stooped over and picked up an extremely heavy, jet black battle-axe that seemed to… whisper… to him, telling him of battles won, battles lost, lives lived, and lives dust. Looking around, Kage noticed that three other weapons seemed to be reaching out to him.

After strapping all four to his pack, Kage took one last look around the dimly lit cavern and idly wondered why his rune of vision was not working. 'I'll just have to go to the seer and ask about it then.' With a mental shrug, he let the two hatchlings climb onto his shoulders and perch inside the concealing depths of his hood. "I claim this cavern system as my own, let it be known to all that the caves of Mt. Klingeherz of the Leviathan's Spine range, are now home to Kage Drakesong, Redeemer of the Dragonkin!" And with that proclamation, the mountains shook, recognizing that a new age, an age of hope and life, had replaced an age of death and destruction.

 **-Requiem of the Drachenkaiser-**

Friends, my voice is tired, the drink has run dry, and the fire has died to coals. For now, I will retire, but tomorrow night, return for the second telling, of the legend of Kage Drakesong. Return, for the Requiem of the Drachenkaiser!

 **-Requiem of the Drachenkaiser-**

In the next scroll… ICINGDEATH!

Codex entry: Scroll the First:

-Kage Drakesong: First dragon keeper in almost two hundred years, Redeemer of the Dragonkin

-Dragons: Two

-Kharn: Male Black Gamma-Class Metal Dragon: Power development, Hatchling

-Khaine: Male Ash Delta-Class Phantom Dragon: Power development, Hatchling

-Weapons:

-Kaiser Blade: Heavy War Scythe: Hardened Steel Blade, Mahogany Shaft

-Unknown: Heavy Twin Headed Battle-Axe: Jet Black Hardened Steel Heads, Jet Black Ebony Shaft

-Unknown: Unknown: Unknown

-Unknown: Unknown: Unknown

-Unknown: Unknown: Unknown

-Companions: None

-Council Name: None

-Enclaves Discovered: None

-Relics Found: None Known

-Ruins Found: None

 **AN:** **I hope that this is acceptable material to those who read it. I realize that it is not quite as long as my 5000ish word usual, but this just felt like a good spot to end this chapter. Others will hopefully be longer.**


End file.
